Like this:

I feel as if whenever I write poetry, it’s really just me kind of making fun of the whole poetry thing. Don’t get me wrong, I think poetry is great, but whenever I write it, looking back it looks like satire to me.

Even when i’m trying to be serious, I often end up utilizing overused tropes to entertain myself. Or maybe that’s just how I see it.

Like this:

Hello there you lighter fluids. I just walked out of a building and it feels like the temperature just went up 20 degrees. It’s Friday, or at least it is in my timezone, so that means it’s time for another Free Lunch! That means I type for 5 minutes without stopping.

Starting at 1:12.

Yesterday was not that great for me, but today is a little bit better so far. I’ve been “working” a story booth for my mom both days, so it’s been pretty interesting. Yesterday was a Farmers Market, and today is at a place called Casa Azafrán.

I’m thinking that I will tag this post with every attention-screaming tag I can think of just as an experiment.

Like this:

Fluffy and ever-morphing
Somehow alwats triggering endorphins
Whether crying or majestic, they emit emotion
Evoking feelings of nostalgia or devotion
Stirring up old thoughts from your mind
You may be surprised by what you’ll find
Welcome to the cloud kingdom
We’re full of opportunities for stardom
And teeming with imagination
You can come here for creation
Or simply stop by for some daily elation
You’re leaving already?
Stay here, you aren’t ready
Come back to the castle!
We don’t want any hassle, we just want you
Don’t let the clouds engulf you.

Like this:

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the waterfowlfamilyAnatidae, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the family Anatidae; they do not represent a monophyletic group (the group of all descendants of a single common ancestral species) but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water.

Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules, and coots.

Etymology

The word duck comes from Old English *dūce “diver”, a derivative of the verb *dūcan “to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive”, because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutchduiken and Germantauchen “to dive”.

This word replaced Old Englishened/ænid “duck”, possibly to avoid confusion with other Old English words, like ende “end” with similar forms. Other Germanic languages still have similar words for “duck”, for example, Dutch eend “duck” and German Ente “duck”. The word ened/ænid was inherited from Proto-Indo-European; compare: Latinanas “duck”, Lithuanianántis “duck”, Ancient Greeknēssa/nētta (νῆσσα, νῆττα) “duck”, and Sanskritātí “water bird”, among others.

A duckling is a young duck in downy plumage[1] or baby duck;[2] but in the food trade young adult ducks ready for roasting are sometimes labelled “duckling”.[citation needed]

Morphology

The overall body plan of ducks is elongated and broad, and the ducks are also relatively long-necked, albeit not as long-necked as the geese and swans. The body shape of diving ducks varies somewhat from this in being more rounded. The bill is usually broad and contains serrated lamellae, which are particularly well defined in the filter-feeding species. In the case of some fishing species the bill is long and strongly serrated. The scaled legs are strong and well developed, and generally set far back on the body, more so in the highly aquatic species. The wings are very strong and are generally short and pointed, and the flight of ducks requires fast continuous strokes, requiring in turn strong wing muscles. Three species of steamer duck are almost flightless, however. Many species of duck are temporarily flightless while moulting; they seek out protected habitat with good food supplies during this period. This moult typically precedes migration.

The drakes of northern species often have extravagant plumage, but that is moulted in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the “eclipse” plumage. Southern resident species typically show less sexual dimorphism, although there are exceptions like the paradise shelduck of New Zealand which is both strikingly sexually dimorphic and where the female’s plumage is brighter than that of the male. The plumage of juvenile birds generally resembles that of the female. Over the course of evolution, female ducks have evolved to have a corkscrew shaped vagina to prevent rape.

Behaviour

Feeding

Ducks exploit a variety of food sources such as grasses, aquatic plants, fish, insects, small amphibians, worms, and small molluscs.

Dabbling ducks feed on the surface of water or on land, or as deep as they can reach by up-ending without completely submerging.[3]Along the edge of the beak there is a comb-like structure called a pecten. This strains the water squirting from the side of the beak and traps any food. The pecten is also used to preen feathers and to hold slippery food items.

Diving ducks and sea ducks forage deep underwater. To be able to submerge more easily, the diving ducks are heavier than dabbling ducks, and therefore have more difficulty taking off to fly.

A few specialized species such as the mergansers are adapted to catch and swallow large fish.

The others have the characteristic wide flat beak adapted to dredging-type jobs such as pulling up waterweed, pulling worms and small molluscs out of mud, searching for insect larvae, and bulk jobs such as dredging out, holding, turning head first, and swallowing a squirming frog. To avoid injury when digging into sediment it has no cere, but the nostrils come out through hard horn.

The Guardian (British newspaper) published an article on Monday 16 March 2015 advising that ducks should not be fed with bread because it damages the health of the ducks and pollutes waterways.[4]

Breeding

Ducks are generally monogamous, although these bonds usually last only a single year.[5] Larger species and the more sedentary species (like fast river specialists) tend to have pair-bonds that last numerous years.[6] Most duck species breed once a year, choosing to do so in favourable conditions (spring/summer or wet seasons). Ducks also tend to make a nest before breeding, and, after hatching, lead their ducklings to water. Mother ducks are very caring and protective of their young, but may abandon some of their ducklings if they are physically stuck in an area they cannot get out of (such as nesting in an enclosed courtyard) or are not prospering due to genetic defects or sickness brought about by hypothermia, starvation, or disease. Ducklings can also be orphaned by inconsistent late hatching where a few eggs hatch after the mother has abandoned the nest and led her ducklings to water.[citation needed]

duck eggs

Most domestic ducks neglect their eggs and ducklings, and their eggs must be hatched under a broody hen or artificially.

Communication

Females of most dabbling ducks[citation needed] make the classic “quack” sound, but despite widespread misconceptions, most species of duck do not “quack”. In general, ducks make a wide range of calls, ranging from whistles, cooing, yodels and grunts. For example, the scaup – which are diving ducks – make a noise like “scaup” (hence their name). Calls may be loud displaying calls or quieter contact calls.

Some duck species, mainly those breeding in the temperate and Arctic Northern Hemisphere, are migratory; those in the tropics, however, are generally not. Some ducks, particularly in Australia where rainfall is patchy and erratic, are nomadic, seeking out the temporary lakes and pools that form after localised heavy rain.[citation needed]

Predators

Worldwide, ducks have many predators. Ducklings are particularly vulnerable, since their inability to fly makes them easy prey not only for predatory birds but also for large fish like pike, crocodilians, predatory testudines such as the Alligator snapping turtle, and other aquatic hunters, including fish-eating birds such as herons. Ducks’ nests are raided by land-based predators, and brooding females may be caught unaware on the nest by mammals, such as foxes, or large birds, such as hawks or owls.

Adult ducks are fast fliers, but may be caught on the water by large aquatic predators including big fish such as the North American muskie and the European pike. In flight, ducks are safe from all but a few predators such as humans and the peregrine falcon, which regularly uses its speed and strength to catch ducks.

Relationship with humans

Domestication

Ducks have many economic uses, being farmed for their meat, eggs, and feathers (particularly their down). They are also kept and bred by aviculturists and often displayed in zoos. Almost all the varieties of domestic ducks are descended from the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), apart from the Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata).[9][10] The Call duck is another example of a domestic duck breed. Its name comes from its original use established by hunters. This was to attract wild mallards from the sky, into traps set for them on the ground. The Call duck has also received a place as the world’s smallest domestic duck breed, as it weighs less than 1kg. [11]

Hunting

In many areas, wild ducks of various species (including ducks farmed and released into the wild) are hunted for food or sport, by shooting, or formerly by decoys. Because an idle floating duck or a duck squatting on land cannot react to fly or move quickly, “a sitting duck” has come to mean “an easy target”. These ducks may be contaminated by pollutants such as PCBs.

Like this:

The water battles the sand
Constantly fighting the land
Humans and pets of all sorts
Searching for a way to enjoy this more
Umbrellas stand contrasted against the sky
The seagulls spirited, dash, zoom and fly
Towels spread out in random order
In the distance, waves helping a surf boarder
Snippets of voices drift through the air
Audio of plans, people, someone’s nice hair
Get your popsicles here!
It is hot isn’t it dear?
I like those bangs girl!
Wow, I can’t believe you found a pearl!
What a great place to relax and get tan
Boy, i’d trade it all for a fan
Impossible to hear all the things they say
Salty waters foam up to greet them all day